The invention relates to computer processing systems, and, more particularly, to the packaging of components of computer processing systems.
Computer processing systems on the market today can be segmented generally into two distinct categories: portable and fixed. Portable computer processing systems are designed to be portable between different work sites (i.e. office, home and travel) and may be characterized, for example, as luggable computer systems, laptop computer systems, notebook computer systems, sub-notebook computer systems, tablet computer systems and hand held computer systems, sometimes called Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). On the other hand, fixed computer processing systems are intended to remain stationary in a single work site and may be characterized, for example, as desktop computer processing systems and tower computer processing systems.
Portable computer processing systems include components functionally equivalent to those of the larger fixed computer processing systems; yet the components of the portable computer processing system are designed and packaged for restricted dimensional and weight. specifications required for portability. Such components often include, for example, a microprocessor, associated memory, a lightweight and compact keyboard and display, and PCMCIA standard devices such as fax-modems, wired local area network adapters, wireless local area network interface modules, digital data exchange adapters and hard disk drives. Yet, because of the dimensional and weight restrictions associated with the components of the portable computer processing system, the associated costs of the portable computer processing system are much greater than the costs of comparable fixed computer processing systems, and these additional costs are reflected in the purchase price of portable computer processing systems.
Moreover, a user may require two or more computer systems in separate applications/work modes. For example, a user may require a fixed desktop computer system for work and a portable laptop computer system for travel and home-use. In this case, the user is required to expend a heavy investment in purchasing the separate computer systems, which may limit the market for both the fixed and portable computer processing systems.
Because of these limiting cost factors, there is a long standing need in the field of computer processing systems to provide efficient and flexible computer processing systems while achieving low costs.
In another aspect, the invention relates to connecting means for connecting various peripheral devices internal to the chassis of a computer processing system, such as a PCMCIA fax-modem, to an associated peripheral device external to the chassis of the computer processing system, such as telephone line linked to a telephone network. Typically, various internal peripheral devices are uniquely connected to their associated external peripheral device. For example, an internal PCMCIA fax-modem may be designed to extend out through a slot in the chassis and include a unique connector at its exposed end to mate with a telephone line. However, such unique connecting means among the various peripheral devices may create problems in portable computer processing systems, wherein a user must first disconnect the peripheral devices to move the computer processing system from, for example, a home environment to a work environment, and then reconnect the peripherals upon return, thereby experiencing undue delay and frustration.